Increased prevalence of Mycoplasma pneumoniae serological positivity in Chilean young children

BACKGROUND: Mycoplasma pneumoniae is a frequent cause of respiratory infections in school children and adolescents. Epidemiological suspicion is important, since there are no specific symptoms or signs to help in diagnosing infection caused by this agent. OBJECTIVE: To determine the variation in prevalence over the last 10 years of M. pneumoniae IgM seropositivity according to age, particularly in pre-schoolers. Method: The results of M. pneumoniae IgM serological testing between January 2004 and December 2013 were analysed. Variables such as gender and month and year of sample processing were studied according to age groups (<5, 5-18, 19-50, 51-70 and >70 years of age). RESULTS: Of a total of 20,020 serological samples, 31.9% proved positive for M. pneumoniae. All age groups showed increases in percentage seropositivity over the last 10 years, although the most significant increase corresponded to the 5-18 years group (from 15.8% to 54%), followed by children <5 years of age (from 8.6% to 30%). Seropositivity was significantly higher in women in all age groups, except in those over 50 years of age. CONCLUSIONS: Children under five years of age were the group with the second highest increase in seropositivity

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Increased prevalence of Mycoplasma pneumoniae serological positivity in Chilean young children.

BACKGROUND: Mycoplasma pneumoniae is a frequent cause of respiratory infections in school children and adolescents. Epidemiological suspicion is important, since there are no specific symptoms or signs to help in diagnosing infection caused by this agent. OBJECTIVE: To determine the variation in prevalence over the last 10 years of M. pneumoniae IgM seropositivity according to age, particularly in pre-schoolers. METHOD: The results of M. pneumoniae IgM serological testing between January 2004 and December 2013 were analysed. Variables such as gender and month and year of sample processing were studied according to age groups (<5, 5-18, 19-50, 51-70 and >70 years of age). RESULTS: Of a total of 20,020 serological samples, 31.9% proved positive for M. pneumoniae. All age groups showed increases in percentage seropositivity over the last 10 years, although the most significant increase corresponded to the 5-18 years group (from 15.8% to 54%), followed by children <5 years of age (from 8.6% to 30%). Seropositivity was significantly higher in women in all age groups, except in those over 50 years of age. CONCLUSION: Children under five years of age were the group with the second highest increase in seropositivity.

A beat-by-beat, on-line, cardiovascular index, CARDEAN, to assess circulatory responses to surgery: a randomized clinical trial during spine surgery.

Automated assessment of circulatory response to surgical stimuli is unsolved. Would detection of cardiac baroreflex inhibition assess adequacy of intra-operative anti-nociception upon incision, as performed on-line on a beat-by-beat basis by a cardiovascular index, CARDEAN™? 18 ASA I-II patients undergoing spinal disc repair were studied, in a prospective randomized single-blinded trial (observational study). During infusion of propofol to maintain bispectral index between 40 and 60, patients were allocated to receive an effect site target-controlled infusion of remifentanil at Ce = 2 or 4 ng ml(-1). Upon incision and during surgery, circulatory response was assessed using beat-by-beat measurements of minor hypertension and tachycardia to give a cardiovascular index, CARDEAN, scaled between 0 and 100. Upon skin incision, CARDEAN increased in the remifentanil Ce = 2 ng ml(-1) group (n = 7, P < 0.05), while it did not increase in the remifentanil Ce = 4 ng ml(-1) group (n = 7, P = 0.18). During surgery, retrospectively, CARDEAN > 60 was associated with tachycardia and hypertension (P (k) = 0.81 ± 0.10). Changes in CARDEAN appeared linked to adequacy of anti-nociception.

[Functional surgery for movement disorders: implications for anaesthesia]. / La chirurgie fonctionnelle des mouvements anormaux involontaires: prise en charge anesthésique.

Functional surgery for movement disorders is a recent stereotactic neurosurgical operation, restricted yet to patients with advanced Parkinson's disease or with generalized primary dystonia. One or two electrodes are implanted in the basal ganglia, namely in the globus pallidus pars interna or in the subthalamic nucleus, to realize a deep brain stimulation at high frequency. While this approach needs additional data to demonstrate clinical benefits, first results observed after short and long-term follow up are encouraging. Perioperative problems in patients with Parkinson's disease are possible respiratory disorders, a postoperative miss in medication doses and potential drug interactions with anaesthesia. The objectives of anaesthesia will be to allow stereotactic neurosurgical procedure, to maintain the upper airway patency and to be quickly reversible.

[Effect of nicardipine on cerebral vasomotor activity in hypocapnia]. / Action de nicardipine sur la vasomotricité cérébrale en présence d'une hypocapnie.

Nicardipine, a calcium channel antagonist derivative of dihydropyridine, is a cerebral vasodilatator used in the treatment of cerebral vasospasms induced by subarachnoid hemorrhage after rupture of intracranial aneurysm. Hypocapnia is a powerful vasoconstrictor of cerebral arteries, and antagonizes in the baboon the cerebral vasodilative effect of nimodipine, another derivative of dihydropyridine. The action of nicardipine in presence of hypocapnia was not yet study in human. The study of the interaction of nicardipine and hypocapnia on the cerebral arteries show that hypocapnia antagonizes the cerebral vasodilatator properties of nicardipine.

[Blood loss and nausea during legal abortion]. / Saignement et nausées lors d'interruptions volontaires de grossesse.

The efficiency of oxytocic drugs in therapeutic abortion was studied in 113 women who were randomly assigned to either a control group (n = 44) receiving no oxytocic drugs, a group (n = 36) receiving 0.2 mg ergometrine by slow intravenous injection, or a group (n = 33) given 5 units oxytocin in a intravenous infusion throughout the procedure. The three groups were comparable with regard to the age of patients, the age of pregnancies and parity. The surgical procedure was the same in all three groups and carried out by the same surgeon. General anaesthesia was obtained with an infusion of 500 mg methohexitone and 500 micrograms fentanyl in 500 ml isotonic dextrose solution at a rate of 3 ml X min-1. The anaesthetic requirements were 2.94 +/- 0.80 micrograms X kg-1 fentanyl and 2.94 +/- 0,80 mg X kg-1 methohexitone. The criteria studied were the blood loss as measured by the volume aspired, the presence or absence of nausea and vomiting after the procedure, the age of pregnancy and the total amount of anaesthetic drugs given. No correlation was found between the amount of anaesthetic drugs given and the frequency of nausea and vomiting, and between the amount of blood lost (r = 0.287; ddl = 111; alpha = 17.322). The study did not, therefore, confirm the reputation of oxytocic drugs in reducing the bleeding. It seemed that, in therapeutic abortion, spontaneous uterine contraction was sufficient to control the bleeding. But a significant correlation was found between the amount of blood lost and the age of the pregnancy (r = 0.399; ddl = 111; alpha less than 1%).